Short, true stories about the lake, told by Wade the heron and Gill the catfish. Made for kids about 7 to 10, reading with a grown-up.
The doctor who lit up the river
The 1800s. People crossed the rocky Catawba River here on a flat boat called Neely's Ferry. The spot was named India Hook.Dr. W. Gill Wylie grew up in South Carolina and became a doctor in New York. He looked at the fast water and saw power.He helped start the Catawba Power Company. His patient James B. Duke helped pay for it. Engineer William States Lee ran the work.1904. The dam was done! Wires carried its electricity to Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Charlotte. The new lake was called Lake Catawba.1925. The company, later named Duke Power, opened a bigger dam. The lake grew about 20 times bigger!1960. The lake got a new name: Lake Wylie, for the doctor who started it all.
The early 1920s. Buster Boyd of Steele Creek, North Carolina, wanted a bridge to York County, South Carolina. He even gave land for it.The bridge cost $120,000. Mecklenburg County paid two-thirds. York County paid one-third.The builders made it extra tall. Why? The power company was planning a bigger dam that would raise the water.January 1923. The bridge opened! That August, about 12,000 people came to celebrate, with the governors of both states.1925. The bigger dam opened and the water rose. The tall bridge was ready.Today. The Buster Boyd Bridge on Highway 49 is the third one, opened in 2001. It still carries his name.
Gill hears one question all the time.On Duke Energy's lake scale, 100 means full.Full is really 569.4 feet above the sea. Duke just calls it 100.Most of the year, Duke keeps the lake near 97 to 97.5. That leaves room for big rains.In long dry spells, the lake drops. Below about 95, some boat ramps close.So check today's number at the top of Lake Wylie Now before you go.